Have a limited budget for your skincare routine? Or maybe you’d rather just shop wise and in the know? Either way – I’m with you!
For a detailed item by item keep reading… I’ve listed in order of importance – skincare can be confusing enough!
Spend
Serums: This is big one; the one miracle product we are hoping will undo all our sins! Your money goes right here, buy the best your money can buy. Though the most expensive doesn’t necessarily mean best (and quite often doesn’t but you want high performing ingredients, retinol, peptides, Vitamin C etc and that usually pushes the best serums into the higher price bracket. Do your research, shop around, and see if you can get sample sizes to see how your skin reacts before making the investment.
Actives: Kind of the same as the above category, but I feel it’s important to stress any type of ‘active’ ingredient, that you’re expecting a noticeable result from, is going have a higher price tag. (maybe with the exception of ‘The Inky List’ brand)
SPF: Let’s not mess around with this one, it’s important. Yes, there are lots of drug store options… however in my experience, the formulas are not as sophisticated. An SPF spend is worth every penny, especially if it will encourage you to wear SPF every day – just do it!
Eye Creams: The debate is ongoing with eye creams and whether or they are necessary. Whichever side of the fence you fall on, if you use one, make sure it really does something. Look for products with excellent active ingredients such as squalene, peptides, retinol or caffeine.
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Cleanser: Good cleansing practice is vital to healthy skin, that being said you also wash it off after around 30 seconds. It needs to be effective, gentle and feel lovely to use. There are plenty of reasonably priced options out there that tick those boxes! Fancy expensive ingredients don’t need to be in your cleanser.
Moisturiser: A simple topcoat, moisturiser is the last step used to keep all the expensive products from escaping. Think hydrating and calm; not necessarily $$$.
Face masks: If your daily skincare routine is solid, you shouldn’t need to rely on masks all that much. But it’s good for the soul to do sometimes; we all love the treat and pamper.
Lip Balm: No menthol or camphor, all you really need are simple occlusive hydrating ingredients that aid with sealing in water. The wrong lip balm can trigger dryer lips if formulated with wrong ingredients, but good ones are not expensive. The skin on the lips is the thinnest on our whole body it needs looking after for sure but it doesn’t need to break the bank!
Clay masks: These are not complicated, clay is an extremely cheap ingredient – you can buy a pot of clay for cheap on sites such as iherb, mix it with water and et voila – simple, effective homemade clay mask done. The natural clay does all the work itself.
Facial sprays/ mists: It’s mostly water…so you don’t have to go spending a silly amount!I look for ones with that have the first ingredient listed as something like aloe vera or glycerin.
There you go! Shop wisely with a little knowledge of where it’s most useful to spend your moolah! And remember, as always, this is a guide – not a hard fast set of rules. If your budget requires something different, no worries beauty!
In short, spend on serum, not on moisturiser.
Send me an email or DM me on my Instagram @leticiabishop if you have any questions or want a beauty chat!
